One of the most powerful storms on record devastated the central Philippines, reportedly killing an estimated 1,000 people in one town alone and leaving the airport in the hard-hit city of Tacloban in shambles.

The Philippine Red Cross told Reuters that based on reports it estimates at least 1,000 dead in Tacloban, which is located about 360 miles southeast of Manila, and 200 in Samar Provice.

"An estimated more than 1,000 bodies were seen floating in Tacloban as reported by our Red Cross teams,'' Gwendolyn Pang, the secretary general from the agency told Reuters. "In Samar, about 200 deaths. Validation is ongoing."

With communications and roads still cut off, Capt. John Andrews, deputy director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, said he had received "reliable information" by radio from his staff that more than 100 bodies were lying in the streets of Tacloban on Leyte Island. It was one of five islands where Typhoon Haiyan slammed Friday.

Regional military commander Lt. Gen. Roy Deveraturda said that the casualty figure "probably will increase," after viewing aerial photographs of the widespread devastation caused by the typhoon.

Television images showed residents of Tacloban wading through flooded streets littered half-submerged cars, Reuters reported. Communications networks and most roads were cut off after heavy flooding.

"Almost all houses were destroyed, many are totally damaged. Only a few are left standing," Major Rey Balido, a spokesman for the national disaster agency, told Reuters.

Cabinet Secretary Rene Almendras, a senior aide to President Benigno Aquino III, said that the number of casualties could not be immediately determined, but that the figure was "probably in that range" given by Andrews. Government troops were helping recover bodies, he said.

U.S. Marine Col. Mike Wylie, who surveyed the damage in Tacloban prior to possible American assistance, said that the damage to the runway was significant. Military planes were still able to land with relief aid.

"The storm surge came in fairly high and there is significant structural damage and trees blown over," he told the AP. Wylie is a member of the U.S.-Philippines Military Assistance Group based in Manila.

Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement that America stood ready to help.

Joseph de la Cruz, who hitched a ride on a military plane from Tacloban back to Manila, said he had counted at least 15 bodies.

"A lot of the dead were scattered," he said, adding that he walked for about eight hours to reach the Tacloban airport.

The Philippine television station GMA reported its news team saw 11 bodies, including that of a child, washed ashore Friday and 20 more bodies at a pier in Tacloban hours after the typhoon ripped through the coastal city.

At least 20 more bodies were taken to a church in nearby Palo town that was used as an evacuation center but had to be abandoned when its roofs were blown away, the TV network reported. TV images showed howling winds peeling off tin roof sheets during heavy rain.

Ferocious winds felled large branches and snapped coconut trees. A man was shown carrying the body of his 6-year-old daughter who drowned, and another image showed vehicles piled up in debris.

"I saw those big waves and immediately told my neighbors to flee. We thought it was a tsunami," Floremil Mazo, a villager in southeastern Davao Oriental province, told Reuters.

Nearly 800,000 people were forced to flee their homes and damage was believed to be extensive. About 4 million people were affected by the typhoon, the national disaster agency said.

Relief workers said they were struggling to find ways to deliver food and other supplies, with roads blocked by landslides and fallen trees.

In western Palawan province, disaster officials said three fishermen died in Coron township after jumping off their anchored boat which was battered by big waves. One fisherman survived.

Weather officials said Haiyan had sustained winds of 147 mph with gusts of 275 kph 170 mph when it made landfall. By those measurements, Haiyan would be comparable to a strong Category 4 hurricane in the U.S., nearly in the top category, a 5.

Hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons are the same thing. They are just called different names in different parts of the world.

The typhoon's sustained winds weakened Saturday to 101 mph with stronger gusts as it blew farther away from the Philippines toward Vietnam.

Vietnamese authorities in four central provinces began evacuating more than 500,000 people from high risk areas to government buildings, schools and other concrete homes able to withstand strong winds.

"The evacuation is being conducted with urgency and must be completed before 5 p.m.," disaster official Nguyen Thi Yen Linh by telephone from central Danang City, where some 76,000 are being moved to safety.

Hundreds of thousands of others were being taken to shelters in the provinces of Quang Ngai, Quang Nam and Thua Thien Hue. Schools were closed and two deputy prime ministers were sent to the region to direct the preparations.

The typhoon was forecast to make landfall around 10 a.m. Sunday between Danang and Quang Ngai and move up the northeast coast of Vietnam.

I spent a lot of time in the Philippines when I was in the Navy and weathered a typhoon in port because the Admiral in charge didn't order us out to sea. I'm somewhat familiar with the place and if they estimate a 1,000 are dead, it wouldn't surprise me if 10 times that many died. When we went through the San Bernadino straits at night you could see camp fires on the various small islands where people were still living in straw houses, so to speak. When they start looking for those people, if they do, the death count will go much, much higher.

Logged

"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim tribute to patriotism who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness -- these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. . . . reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principles."George Washington

"Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become more corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters."Benjamin Franklin

I guess its too bad they don't have Obamacare in the Philippines. If they did, no one would have to worry about the results of a typhoon.

Logged

"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim tribute to patriotism who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness -- these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. . . . reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principles."George Washington

"Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become more corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters."Benjamin Franklin